A maiden ATP World Tour title, first Grand Slam match win, career-high Emirates ATP Ranking and now a first Masters 1000 quarter-final. If you ask Yuichi Sugita if he’s playing the best tennis of his career, the answer is a resounding ‘yes’.

Japanese tennis has been on the rise over the past decade, thanks in large part to Kei Nishikori’s Top 5 breakthrough and statement as one of the game’s most formidable threats. The nation has also experienced a surge of Top 100 stalwarts, including Yoshihito Nishioka, Taro Daniel, Go Soeda and Tatsuma Ito, but none of Nishikori’s countrymen have experienced the success that 28-year-old Sugita is enjoying in 2017.

“Many players are having their good results after 28 or even 30,” Sugita told ATPWorldTour.com. “Actually I’m not so surprised about this, because tennis takes more time to reach your top level. I kept trying and I’m going to keep going.

“[My ranking] is big news for Japan, but we have Kei, so actually it’s not as big news as him! But it’s good. And he’s a good player. He’s the revolution for Japan. I’m really just trying to do the best I can. His results have helped me a lot to improve my ranking.”

On the heels of a first ATP World Tour title in Antalya and an impressive three ATP Challenger Tour crowns, in Yokohama, Shenzhen and Surbiton, the Sendai native is breaking new ground in rising to a career-high No. 43 in the Emirates ATP Rankings. It is the second-highest position of any Japanese player in history, behind only Nishikori.

In beating Adrian Mannarino for the Antalya Open title, Sugita also became just the third player from Japan to ever win on the ATP World Tour, alongside Nishikori and Shuzo Matsuoka. He describes the moment as a huge honour.

“This year I won three Challengers in Japan, China and England,” added Sugita. “After that I was really confident to play tournaments. It all happened so soon. After one Challenger in England, I went straight to Antalya and it’s been a big change. It didn’t feel like a big wall to make the Top 50. I’m happy.

“Antalya was a great week for me. It was my first semi-final and then I won the tournament. It was a great opportunity to play many good players. It was big news for Japan, because I’m the third player to win a title.

“So I’m very proud that I won my first title. For sure it was the most emotional moment in my career. I remember a lot of things. I’d played lower level tournaments for 10 years and I was just so happy to win an ATP title. When I go back to Japan, a lot of media come to the tennis court and ask a lot of things. I’m happy about that.”

I got it !!!!! This is my 3rd title of the year !!!

芝での初タイトル!!!
現在会場からアムステルダムに向かってます‼
次はATP250 !!
引き続きよろしくお願い致します。 pic.twitter.com/A65h63e0iL

— 杉田祐一 / Yuichi SUGITA (@sugitayuichi88) June 11, 2017

Sugita isn’t finished climbing in 2017 and he’s proving that his game translates to all surfaces. All three ATP World Tour quarter-finals this year have come on different surfaces. In addition to a quarter-final finish on the clay of Barcelona and title on the lawns of Antalya, he has battled into the last eight this week at the Western & Southern Open – his best result at a Masters 1000 event.

A first-round upset of 13th seed Jack Sock – his biggest career victory – has been followed by impressive comeback wins over Joao Sousa and Karen Khachanov. Next up: seventh seed Grigor Dimitrov on Friday.

“Every match is a great opportunity here for me in Cincinnati. It means a higher ranking for me and I’m just happy to stay on the tennis court. I’m trying to enjoy it and I’m really excited to play great players.”

What does Sugita say is the difference in 2017? What is his formula for success? The Japanese believes it has been an all-around balance, with changes in mindset proving to be most critical.

“[When I started playing] I needed to try a new game style for a small player. For me, I don’t have a big serve, so I needed to make a lot of returns and have quick reactions. Those are the most important things for me.

“Most of the changes were mental. Now I can keep the same level throughout three sets and the match… In general it is definitely a great year for me. I’ve tried to be positive and I’ve been careful with injuries. I have a good balance now: physically, mentally and technically. I feel good and I’m positive.”

Jared Donaldson recorded the biggest win of his career earlier this week at the Western & Southern Open when he upset World No. 14 Roberto Bautista Agut. On Thursday, the 20-year-old American achieved another milestone, advancing to his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 quarter-final by defeating Georgia’s Nikoloz Basilashvili 6-4, 7-6(4).

The Californian was 0-13 in Round of 16 matches entering the match, including last week’s defeat to Diego Schwartzman in Montreal when he led 6-0, 2-0, and had been denied by Basilashvili in the final round of Roland Garros qualifying in 2015 and 2016. He turned the page Thursday, putting pressure on his opponent’s serve and going two for 12 on break point chances. After falling behind a mini-break early in the second-set tie-break, he won the final three points to cement the one-hour, 36-minute victory.

Donaldson leads all #NextGenATP Americans with 28 career wins, and could next face 19-year-old Frances Tiafoe, who is tied for fourth on that list with seven following his victory over Coupe Rogers champion Alexander Zverev on Wednesday. Tiafoe plays countryman John Isner, the 2013 Cincinnati finalist, later in the day.

Donaldson is challenging for a place in the inaugural Next Gen ATP Finals, and stood at eighth in the Emirates ATP Race to Milan entering Cincinnati. The tournament, to be held from 7-11, will feature the top 21-and-under players.

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David Ferrer is regaining his appetite for top-level tennis and the relentless drive that saw him rise to a career-high No. 3 in the Emirates ATP Rankings in August 2013. Close to a return to the Top 30, the veteran Spaniard beat his compatriot Pablo Carreno Busta 6-4, 6-4 on Thursday for a place in the Western & Southern Open quarter-finals – his first at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 level since the Rolex Paris Masters in November 2015.

The 2015 Cincinnati finalist, who has gone 11-2 since a Wimbledon third-round exit, will next face third-seeded Austrian Dominic Thiem or Adrian Mannarino of France on Friday.

Ferrer, who had lost five of his previous seven matches against fellow Spaniards, and No. 11 seed Carreno Busta both struggled for consistency in the early exchanges. But service breaks for Ferrer in the fifth game of the first set and at 1-1 in the second set proved to be enough for his 21st match win of a protracted season, which sparked into life with his 27th ATP World Tour title at the SkiStar Swedish Open (d. Dolgopolov) last month. Ferrer, playing closer to the baseline and quick to move up the court, struck 14 winners, while a forehand in the net from Carreno Busta – his 26th error – ended the 77-minute encounter.

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Grigor Dimitrov recorded his first win in his sixth match against Juan Martin del Potro on Thursday for a place in the Western & Southern Open quarter-finals.

Seventh seed Dimitrov advanced to his eighth ATP World Tour Masters 1000 quarter-final (or better) with a 6-3, 7-5 victory over del Potro, who struggled due to the intense heat in the closing stages of the pair’s sixth meeting that lasted one hour and 39 minutes.

“He’s a tricky opponent… a super-experienced player,” said Dimitrov. “I definitely had to stay away a little bit from that forehand. I knew if I keep the ball low on his backhand side and just kind of work my way into the court, it would have been the right thing to do.I think I did this thing very, very well today. The short slice really made him very uncomfortable, and he was giving me a lot of short balls, so I could start moving him with my forehand. It was also a bit of a mind game, because we know our game pretty well.”

Dimitrov will now look to reach the Cincinnati semi-finals for the second straight year when he challenges Japan’s Yuichi Sugita. Dimitrov won their lone match at last year’s Masters 1000 tournament in Canada over three sets.

“He’s been playing really well,” said Dimitrov. “I watched quite a few of his matches… The conditions don’t really bother him. He’s going to be definitely a tough opponent to play. I don’t underestimate his ability to play good tennis. [When] you’re in the quarter-final of a Masters 1000 anything can happen. He’s pretty determined, and he’s pretty excited to play, so that makes him even more dangerous.”

Dimitrov got off to the best possible started by opening up a 3-0 lead against del Potro, who was unable to convert one break point on his Bulgarian opponent’s serve at 3-5, 30/40. Del Potro mirrored Dimitrov by winning the first three games of the second set and could not convert three set point chances at 5-4, before the Argentinean physically began to struggle. A doctor was called at the 6-5 changeover, with del Potro insisting he had to finish the match.

Dimitrov is now 31-14 on the season, which includes two ATP World Tour titles, and improves his chances of rising up from his current position of No. 9 in the Emirates ATP Race To London for a debut appearance at the Nitto ATP Finals, to be held at The O2 in London from 12-19 November. Del Potro, the 2012-13 Cincinnati semi-finalist, is now 18-11 on the year.

Sugita, five spots off his career-high of No. 43 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, reached his first Masters 1000 quarter-final in a career-best year with a 6-7(0), 6-3, 6-3 victory over #NextGenATP Russian Karen Khachanov in two hours.

Two months ago, the 28-year-old Japanese No. 2 captured his first ATP World Tour title at the Antalya Open (d. Mannarino), adding to three ATP Challenger Tour crowns won in 2017.

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Western & Southern Open – Cincinnati, U.S.A.

Rafael Nadal, Milos Raonic, Dominic Thiem, Juan Martin del Potro, Alexander Zverev, Stefan Kozlov and Tommy Paul were among the stars to meet fans at autograph sessions.

ATP World Tour Uncovered took #NextGenATP Americans Jared Donaldson and Kozlov for a morning of fun at Kings Island. The duo brought along some friends and went on three rides before heading back to site for practice. Both had been a little nervous before the roller coasters, but they loved it.

Sam Querrey gave up two hours of his day off to visit the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. The American joined WTA player Nicole Gibbs for an appearance at Seacrest Studios. The duo were joined by hospital patients for a fun-filled hour of Dad Jokes, Head’s Up and Nerf Basketball, which was played over the hospital radio and television stations.